he officers. I find that in the Chilian service the
midshipmen do not mess by themselves, as is the case with us, but have a
common mess with the lieutenants. There are certainly considerable
advantages in this arrangement; though it might not work well in our navy,
where boys are much more mischievous and given to pranks than are those of
southern people. They do not enter so young into the service, and the six
midshipmen on board are none of them younger than yourself. They are all
members of good old families here, and there is therefore no need for so
strict a line of distinction between midshipmen and lieutenants as there
is with us. The system is more like that which prevails in our army, where
the youngest ensigns associate when off duty on terms of equality with
their elders. Mingling with them you will acquire the language far more
rapidly than you would do were you to take your meals at my table.
Moreover, I think that it will be a more pleasant and natural life for
you, while it will avoid any appearance of favouritism and be altogether
better."

Stephen bowed. Fond as he was of the admiral, he felt himself that it
would be more pleasant to associate with lads of his own age, than to be
always on his best behaviour. He already knew all the officers, having met
them at the various entertainments at Valparaiso. He had found them
pleasant young fellows, though their airs of manliness and gravity had
amused him a good deal, but he wished that he had in addition his old
friend Joyce, with whom he could occasionally skylark, quarrel, and make
it up again, after the manner of boys. The wardroom was large and airy,
and there was ample space for the party. At meals they consisted of the
three lieutenants, the surgeon, purser, and seven midshipmen. As he had
never been accustomed to a rough life in the cock-pit of a British
man-of-war, the contrast to his former condition was not so strong as it
would have been to a midshipman in the royal service; but the somewhat
stiff courtesy that prevailed among the Chilian officers in their
relations to each other differed widely from the frank heartiness at
Captain Pinder's table. When the meals were over, however, the air of
restraint softened a little, and Stephen soon became on intimate terms
with the other midshipmen, three or four of whom had never been to sea
before.

"Is this like life on board your ships?" one of them asked him a few days
after he had joined.

"Not a